Skin Sense Award Gala

By: Nancy Jeffries

Posted: December 10, 2007

The Skin Sense Award gala, benefitting The Skin Cancer Foundation, was held Oct. 10 in The Grand Ballroom of The Pierre in New York City. This event honored Colleen Goggins, worldwide chairman, consumer group, Johnson & Johnson Consumer Companies, Inc., and Valerie Monroe, beauty director, O, The Oprah Magazine, for their contributions to skin cancer awareness.

Meredith Vieira, event host and co-anchor of NBC’s Today show, welcomed guests with the heartening news that all forms of skin cancer are 99% curable. Perry Robins, MD, president, The Skin Cancer Foundation, told guests that healthy, natural glowing skin without the tan is the goal. “Let’s ban the tan,” he urged, noting that being healthy and comfortable in your own skin are key.

Goggins, introduced by J&J chairman and CEO William Weldon, noted both J&J’s consumer education efforts regarding sun exposure/cancer and the efforts of scientists developing innovative approaches to the treatment of skin cancer.

Bobbi Brown, founder and CEO, Bobbi Brown Cosmetics, introduced Valerie Monroe, who acknowledged The Skin Cancer Foundation for raising awareness and noting that part of her mission within the beauty pages of O, The Oprah Magazine is to help women play up their assets rather than their deficits. “We want our readers to apply sunscreen the way they brush their teeth,” she said. “The best antiwrinkle cream is a broad spectrum sunscreen. There’s looking beautiful and there’s being beautiful, which involves only one thing, having an open heart.”